What Is Resilience In Ecology

Resilience in Ecology and the Ecological Approach: resilience is defined as two entirely different implicit meanings in ecology. The first implicit term of resilience is based on the classic ecological paradigm, which emphasizes a phase of equilibrium and it is based on return of a system to its equilibrium after an inconsistency, usually measured in a time unit (Innis, 1975). The concept of “classical resilience” is based on the principle of equilibrium and balance that focuses on efficiency, stability and predictability, and it is called “engineering resilience”. In contrast to this definition, the second implicit term of resilience is “ecological resilience” or “ecosystem resilience” defined as the ability of a system to absorb the change

Furthermore, it is significant to distinguish the “resilience” and the “equilibrium point”, which do not mean the same at all (as mentioned by Holling at the very beginning of his discussion about ecological resilience) (Holling, 1973). Urban resilience is not necessarily the ability of a system to go back to the previous way and equilibrium point before the disruption or shock. The previous way and former equilibrium point may be disappeared or vanished entirely or partially for a variety of reasons and alternative ways probably emerge; so it is necessary to note that all of these scenarios and potential options can change the system’s path. According to Adger (2003), all ecological definitions highlight the degree of destruction that a system can withstand without changing the conditions. In his view, the focus is almost on sustainability and resilience against degradation and the speed of return to equilibrium. The classical ecological definitions seem to believe in the existence of an equilibrium point within the system and regard resilience as preservation of the system in its existing structural state or the speed of the system’s return to its previous state before pressures and changes being applied. In other words, the long-term

Three Conceptual Approaches of Resilience Thinking

References Descriptions Resilience Approaches (Folke, 2006)

The ability of the system to absorbing disturbances and achieving a balance through recovery Resilience as recovery

(Carpenteret.al, 2009; Chelleri et al, 2016) The capacity to absorb pressures or destructive forces by adaptation to the change Resilience as compatibility or adaptation capacity (Folk et al, 2010)

The ability of the system to absorbing disturbances and adaptively respond to the change through a positive shift towards transformation Resilience as change

A common aspect of all these approaches is the ability to withstand, resist and respond positively to pressure or change. The first and second approaches have a definite understanding of the resilience as an inherent characteristic of the system that whether or not enables it to adapt to the pressure factor and, in other words, proves whether a system is resilient. Unlike the first and second approaches, the third approach notices the system’s capacity for compatibility instead of focus on the vulnerability of the system (Fig. 2). A resilient society can use the experiences made by changes to achieve better performance through this approach; so that it can react in a creative and innovative way to change rather than survival and self-restraint against the pressure factor (Rafieian et al,